TEDxCU 2021 hosts “Bounce”

On Sunday, April 11, nine individuals with a range of expertise shared some of their key findings with a virtual audience as part of the semi-annual TEDxCU event, which is part of the TEDx program. This year’s theme was Bounce, representing the ricochet and rebounds people endure from hard times. The stories shared included narratives on letting go, being a female in a male-dominated workplace, athletic hardships and the presence of science in our lives today.

TEDxCU is a project of the College of Media, Communication and Information and the Department of Communication. Due to COVID-19 safety precautions, TEDxCU did not host a live audience, and instead offered a free virtual event. The platinum sponsors included the Cultural Events Board and CU Student Government. 

Of the nine speakers, first was pilot Lynsey Howell. She spoke about her experiences as a female-identifying pilot in a male-dominated professional field. 

“I want our daughters to know they can be pilots or anything they dream of; but it’s more than saying you can be anything you can dream of, it’s teaching them how to walk with confidence,” she said. 

“If your dreams don’t shock people, they’re not big enough,” Howell concluded. 

Next up was Shuli Steele, a leader in workplace strategy. She spoke on the importance of organizing our belongings. 

“Rarely do we think of storage spaces, those are typically where we start with organization,” she said. She elaborated that we need to realize “what is useful, where we need it and when we need it,” she continued. “Our lives change and what we value changes too.” 

With the COVID-19 pandemic, many professionals have transitioned to working from home. Steele says it is important to note distinct differences between our work life and home life, since they are blending more than ever.

Astrophysicist and CU Boulder researcher John Bally spoke next, describing how technology has profoundly changed the way we live on Earth. 

Just as the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan discovered continents, “our generation is discovering the universe,” Bally said. Universe expansion is not slowing down, he said. 

Continuing with the theme of exploring abstract ideas, Angela Hummel followed Bally and asked a big question: who or what is God? 

A theologist with a collaborative emphasis, Hummel wants to use art to help understand God and love. Hummel asks her workshop students to visualize an idea of God, and then to visualize a color that God represents. From there, they have a dialogue about what those colors mean in relation to love and religion–especially for those who aren’t religious.

Through painting, she expands ideas about gender expression in religion. “As I painted this painting, I realized if there truly is a God, there is a being that is female, male, nonbinary and beyond gender. We can all create love,” Hummel said. 

Yaprak DeCarmine, an immigrant woman and CEO of a gaming company, presented after Hummel. As an immigrant dealing with language barriers in the United States, DeCarmine relied on video games as an escape growing up. 

DeCarmine and her husband co-founded a game development company, Game Jolt, which serves as a creative community for game creators and game players. 

“Creators can now share their games with the world; this specific ecosystem is easy for fans to create games,” she said. “And for us gamers, we just want to play our favorite games.” 

Pushing new ideas of what technology can do is something Maggie Grout, the next presenter, is also familiar with. Passionate about increasing the accessibility of education, Grout shared the potential of 3D printing in third-world countries, specifically for schools. “It is the future of construction, as it decreases the construction time and the carbon footprint,” she said. 

“We need to leverage 3D printing to create social impact,” she elaborated, explaining that this method could offer a faster way to increase education access. “Imagine [3D] printing 12 schools in the time it would take to build one.”

Working alongside communities to teach 3D techniques for future replications, Grout believes that this solution is the safest, most ethical and effective option to place people before profit. 

The concepts of technology and science can seem daunting to unfamiliar audiences, something that Melanie Peffer, a research associate in the cognitive science department at CU Boulder and author of “Biology Everywhere,” aims to tackle. Through anecdotes about bacon, leaves at the park and blood types, Peffer explained that science is a part of our daily lives, rather than an abstract idea to be feared. 

“Life is all interconnected and all it takes to see that is to look out the window,” she said about an ecosystem in her backyard. 

Speaking of windows, Arthur Biggs’ presentation was titled: Why you should stare out the window. Biggs is a local window cleaner who wants to bring beauty to those who cannot find it. 

“I want you to enjoy the mediation that is window gazing,” he said. “Sometimes I fail to recognize the beauty that is in front of me because I am wrapped up in my tasks.” 

He explained that by looking out a window, you can be in two worlds at once–watching a blizzard from the comfort and warmth of your living room. Through windows, we have transparency, he said. 

The final speaker, Nina Williams, talked about the power of failure in building courage–a concept she applied when she returned to CU Boulder after having left education for the professional rock climbing world in 2010. Her transparency about failing and falling is what helped her find her place at CU Boulder. 

“Climbers choose the hardest route because we seek out the failure. The fear of falling is a natural human instinct. But you learn when you fall, you will be okay,” Williams said. 

“We take a deep breath, relax our bodies and lower our heart rates and regain our strength,” she elaborated, sharing lessons that everyone can use as they face challenging situations.

Williams applied these lessons as she reentered the classroom. While initially scared, she has found her stride and will be graduating this spring. 

While it’s the speakers who take the main stage, many students worked behind the scenes to ensure the event’s success. Director of TEDxCU outreach Sophia Bragaglia said the pandemic pushed the executive team to adapt to a digital platform. Since organizations were forced into a virtual space, Bragalia explains Zoom fatigue occurred, but it allowed them to find creative and innovative outlets to produce a TED presentation.

“I loved adapting to the digital world and environment,” said Bragalia. “Our team worked really hard to make it even more exciting, engaging and innovative.”